The following are the agenda items from the Commission's regular meeting held
October 23, 2007 at Commission
headquarters. The Commission's actions are in bold.
** APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Approved the agenda with the deletion of Item #9, because the County of Middlesex withdrew their application from consideration.
1. MINUTES of previous meeting. Approved as circulated.
[ Audio Item 1 ]
2. PERMITS (Projects over $50,000 with no objections and with staff recommendation for approval, as detailed lower).
The Commission unanimously approved in an 8-0 bloc vote Page 2 items 2A- 2J. (2C was approved contingent on successful expiration of the public comment period on Oct. 24, 2007.) Item 2H was approved with a royalty of $3,200.00 based on an encroachment of 1,600 sq. ft. at a rate of $2.00 per sq. ft.)
[ Audio Item 2 ]
3. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS. The Commission unanimously endorsed the staff recommendation to approve the Bevans Oyster Company after-the-fact permit modification (#07-0074) contingent on their agreement to pay a civil charge of $1,800.00 in lieu of further enforcement actions as permitted by Code.
[ Audio Item 3 ]
4. CLOSED MEETING FOR CONSULTATION WITH OR BRIEFING BY COUNSEL. There was no need for closed meeting so one wasn't held.
[ Audio Item 4 ]
5. POQUOSON MARINA ASSOCIATES, LLC, #07-1569. Commission review on appeal by 61 Poquoson freeholders, of the September 19, 2007, decision by the Poquoson Wetlands Board to approve a proposal to fill and dredge tidal wetlands, as part of a planned redevelopment project for the Poquoson Marina property situated along White House Cove in the City of Poquoson. The Commission unanimously voted to remand the matter to the Poquoson Wetlands Board for reconsideration at a future public hearing.
[ Audio Item 5 ]
6. DIMITER J. GEORGIADIS, #07-1432. Commission review, on appeal by the applicant, of the September 13, 2007, decision by the Lancaster County Wetlands Board to deny his application to install 120 linear feet of quarry stone riprap revetment on a coastal primary sand dune at his property situated on the Rappahannock River in Lancaster County.
The Commission unanimously voted to uphold the decision of the Lancaster County Wetland Board.
[ Audio Item 6 ]
7. WILLIAM P. BRYANT III, #02-2393, requests authorization to construct a 6-foot by 200-foot open-pile private pier extension with a 3-foot wide catwalk to create one wetslip and to construct a 17-foot by 34-foot open-sided covered boathouse over the wetslip at the applicant's property situated along the Warwick River in the City of Newport News. The application is protested by an adjacent property owner.
The Commission voted 7-1) to approve the boathouse in accordance with the staff recommendation. Commissioner Tankard voted no.
[ Audio Item 7 ]
8. DISCUSSION: Status of the Nassawadox Creek Federal Project Channel and the H. Spencer Murray application, #07-0792, that was approved by the Commission at the August 28, 2007, meeting.
The Commission voted 7-0-1 to amend Mr. Murray's previously approved permit by adding another condition to reflect the fact that his permit would become null and void upon the funding and construction of the Nassawaddox Creek Federal Navigation Channel. Mr. Murray agreed to the inclusion of this condition. Commissioner Fox abstained from the vote.
[ Audio Item 8 ]
9. COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, #07-2010, requests authorization to install two (2) pilings on an existing public dock to support equipment designed to facilitate the offloading of seafood at the public pier situated along Broad Creek at the end of Timberneck Road in Middlesex County. The project is protested by the adjoining property owner and other County residents.
The application was withdrawn by the County.
10. CHRIS CLIFFORD, #07-2124, requests after-the-fact authorization to retain three 16-foot wide riprap breakwaters that were constructed in a manner that did not conform with the terms and conditions of his previous permit. The three breakwaters measure 70 feet, 83 feet, and 110 feet in length instead of the 50 foot length approved. They also were constructed utilizing different construction techniques and materials than those originally authorized. Mr. Clifford also seeks authorization to construct a fifth breakwater with a combination of a precast concrete barrier with quarry stone placed along the channelward side of the barrier adjacent to his property situated along the York River near the mouth of Carter Creek in Gloucester County.
The Commission voted 7-1 to approve Mr. Clifford's after-the-fact request in accordance with the staff recommendations, including the assessment of triple permit fees and Mr. Clifford's agreement to pay a civil charge in the amount of $3,600.00 in lieu of any further enforcement actions, as permitted by Code. Commissioner Schick voted no.
[ Audio Item 10 ]
11. RONALD H. HORN, #06-2296, requests after-the-fact authorization to retain an
8-foot wide by 132-foot long open-pile pier with flared landing, a 16.2-foot by 24-foot open-sided boathouse, a 12-foot by 13.5-foot L-platform and a 1,166 square foot
U-shaped floating dock, adjacent to property situated along Williams Creek in King George County.
The Commission unanimously voted to approve Mr. Horn's after-the-fact request in accordance with the staff recommendation and with Mr. Horn's agreement to pay a civil charge in the amount of $5,500.00 in lieu of any further enforcement actions as permitted by Code.
[ Audio Item 11 ]
12. PUBLIC COMMENTS. Doug Jenkins of the Twin Rivers Watermen's Association told the board that he doesn't approve of a Presidential Executive Order last week that urges coastal states to declare striped bass and red drum to be gamefish, which would ban commercial harvesting of the two species.
Also, Robert Jensen of the Rappahannock Preservation Society urged the board to ask the Navy to leave and stack the remains of a concrete ammunition facility being demolished in the lower James River on the river bottom where the facility is currently located. The Navy, at the agency's request, instead will dump the facility remains on existing state-owned artificial reefs.
[ Audio Item 12 ]
13. PUBLIC HEARING: Proposed Amendments to Regulation 4 VAC 20-910, "Pertaining to Scup," to adjust the commercial fishery possession limit for the Winter II (November-December) period.
The board voted 8-0 to approve a 3,500-pound per trip possession limit on Scup, down from last winter's 6,500-pound per trip limit.
[ Audio Item 13 ]
14. PUBLIC HEARING: Continuation of provisions of Regulation 4 VAC 20-20, "Pertaining to Licensing Fixed Fishing Devices", that suspend the requirements to set and fish a pound net, in order to renew a license and maintain priority to that location next year.
The board voted 8-0 to approve this item so that pound net anglers may keep their licenses while the industry replaces expensive nets damaged in last year's storm Ernesto. The number of pound net licenses has been capped at 161 since 1994.
[ Audio Item 14 ]
15. REQUEST FOR NOVEMBER PUBLIC HEARING: "Pertaining to Tautog", to establish ASMFC-mandated harvest reduction measures, for the commercial and recreational tautog fisheries.
The board approved a public hearing on an 8-0 vote.
[ Audio Item 15 ]
16. REQUEST FOR NOVEMBER PUBLIC HEARING: "Pertaining to Blue Crab", Proposed extension of the license sales moratorium, as established in Regulation 4 VAC 20-1040-10 et seq.
The board voted unanimously, 8-0, to hold a public hearing to extend the blue crab license moratorium while a panel of scientists continues its in-depth review of Virginia blue crab regulations.
[ Audio Item 16 ]
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING SO-CALLED PAGE 2 ITEMS WERE APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY:
2A. VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, #02-0950, requests a permit modification to allow for the installation of three (3) 24-inch diameter mooring piles in Chincoteague Channel, south of the swing span bridge, to allow for the temporary mooring of barge-mounted construction equipment, in association with construction of the new Chincoteague Channel and Black Narrows Channel Bridges in Accomack County. The pilings will be removed upon completion of the bridge replacement activities previously authorized.
2B. TOM LANGLEY, ET AL, #07-0704, requests authorization to modify an existing dredging permit, approved by the Commission as a Page 2 item during the August 28, 2007 hearing, by relocating a 100 square-foot section of the project footprint. The project is designed to serve three residential properties in the North Alanton subdivision, situated along Broad Bay in Virginia Beach. Staff recommends no further royalties be assessed provided there are no modifications in the project depth or dredge volume.
2C. VIRGINIA BEACH DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, #07-1775, requests authorization to relocate and install, by the directional drilling method, multiple utility lines (including water, sewage, and power) under an approximate 400-foot section of Linkhorn Bay, directly adjacent to the existing Laskin Road Bridge in Virginia Beach. All utility lines will remain a minimum of 9 feet below the existing Bay bottom. This project, known as the Laskin Road Advance Utility Relocation, will relocate existing utilities in conflict with future road and bridge expansion improvements.
2D. COURTLAND FARMS LOUDOUN, LLC, #06-2468, requests authorization to install, by the directional drill method, 119 linear feet of 6-inch HDPE pipe encased in an 8-inch HDPE sleeve at least 10 feet beneath Little River as part of the Courtland Farms Forcemain Project in Loudoun County. Staff recommends a royalty of $357.00 for the encroachment under 119 linear feet of State-owned subaqueous bottom at a rate of $3.00 per linear foot.
2E. CITY OF NEWPORT NEWS, #07-1336, requests authorization to maintenance dredge 3,881 cubic yards of sediment from the Leeward Marina and Boat Channel to maximum depths of -9.5 feet below mean low water adjacent to property situated along the James River in Newport News.
2F. FAIRFAX COUNTY PARK AUTHORITY, #07-1831, requests authorization to install a 38.2-foot by 19.64-foot concrete low-flow stream crossing in Horsepen Run as part of a trail improvement project near the intersection of Centreville Road and McLearen Road in Fairfax County.
2G. NA DULLES REAL ESTATE INVESTOR, LLC, #07-1941, requests authorization to install, by directional drill, 50 linear feet of sanitary sewer force main beneath Broad Run near the Route 7 and Route 28 interchange in Loudoun County. Staff recommends a royalty in the amount of $150.00 for the encroachment under 50 linear feet of State-owned submerged bottom at a rate of $3.00 per linear foot.
2H. VULCAN CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS, # 07-1323, requests authorization to construct a 100 linear foot open-pile railroad bridge over Fontaine Creek, a tributary to the Meherrin River, to facilitate improved loading capabilities at their Skippers Quarry facility in Greensville County. Recommend our standard instream work conditions and a royalty for the bridge crossing at a rate of $2.00 per square foot.
2I. VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE, #07-1024, requests authorization to deploy a variety of data collection instruments and buoys within a 600-foot by 1,200-foot area near the center of the York River between Clay Bank in Gloucester County and Bigler Mill in York County. A single piling is proposed to be located near the center of the area at 37� 20' 30.4" North Latitude and 76� 37' 28.5" West Longitude. The proposed area is southwest of the marked navigation channel and mean low water depths within the proposed area are between 10 and 19 feet. With the exception of the single piling and any buoys or marker floats, the instruments will extend a maximum of four (4) feet above the substrate. Staff recommends approval conditioned upon the applicant marking the site in accordance with U.S. Coast Guard requirements.
2J. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, #05-0927, requests authorization to repair and replace two boat ramps, a travel lift, steel bulkheads, eight pier sections, and 106 total wet slips, previously constructed channelward of Mean Low Water at the Dogue Creek Marina, adjacent to U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Belvoir situated along Dogue Creek in Fairfax County. The proposed project will include the construction of two 16-foot wide by 70-foot long concrete boat ramps, with two 6-foot wide by 70-foot long tending piers, and one 6-foot wide by 70-foot long tending pier with a 6-foot wide by 42-foot long L-head platform; two 7-foot wide by 5-foot long travel lift piers; one 12-foot wide by 112-foot long floating rowing pier; the installation of approximately 340 linear feet of vinyl/timber bulkhead aligned no more than 18-inches channelward of the existing steel sheet-pile bulkhead. The proposed project will also include the construction of four 6-foot wide floating main pier sections with a channelward encroachment varying between 140 and 190 feet, to include 106 total wet slips, four 6-foot wide by 54-foot long T-head platforms, 49 total 4-foot wide finger piers varying in length between 16 and 20 feet, associated mooring piles, and necessary water, electric, and sanitary sewage lines, conduits, lights, hookups, and pump-outs.
THE FOLLOWING SO-CALLED PAGE 3 ITEM WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY:
3A. BEVANS OYSTER COMPANY, #07-0074, requests after-the-fact authorization to retain modifications to a previously authorized commercial pier at their property situated along the Northwest Yeocomico River in Westmoreland County. The modifications include an increase in the width of the pier from four (4) to six (6) feet and an increase in width of the T-head from four (4) to 11 feet. The applicant has agreed to the payment of a $1,800.00 civil charge in lieu of any further enforcement action.
